This helpdesk article will show you where to find your server and channel permissions. In addition, it will explain how to add new roles and assign permissions on both the server and channel levels.

For an explanation of the permission hierarchy click here.

You can also check out step-by-step instructions for the following popular permission settings:

The Discord permission system is based on roles that you assign to your members. Permissions can be assigned per role on both the server level and channel level. They are then resolved by adding up all the permissions from all the roles on a user. Channels can negate a role’s server permissions.

Creating Roles

To begin setting up permissions for your group you start by setting up different Roles to assign to your members.

Note: As the creator of your server you don't need to assign any roles or permissions to yourself. You will always have access to everything.

You can create any custom role your group requires, such as @officer, @guest, etc. Multiple roles can be assigned to a single member. Roles contain a name, a set of permissions and a set of members.

To create, delete or assign permissions to roles click on the 'Roles' tab in the Server Settings menu.

1. Click on the arrow next to the server name.

2. Click on 'Server Settings'

3. Click on 'Roles'

When you first create your server there is only one pre-made role: @everyone. The @everyone role defines the permissions that are enabled for everyone on your server even if they have no other roles assigned to them.

To create a new role click on the '+'.

Once you have created a role, you can assign specific server-wide permissions for that role by toggling the dials.

Don't forget to click Save Changes to save your changes!

Assigning Roles

Once you have configured the permissions you want to grant to a specific role you can assign the role to individual members on your server.

To assign roles to members:

1. Click on the 'Members' tab in the server settings menu.

2. Click on the plus sign under the member you want to assign a role to and select the role from the drop down window.

This member now has the server-wide permissions that you assigned to that role.

Channel Permissions

You can assign permissions to specific channels (both text and voice) by accessing the channel settings menu.

To access the channel settings menu, select the channel you want to adjust settings for and click the cog icon.

To set permissions for roles or individual members on this channel click the 'Permissions' tab in the Channel Settings menu.

By default @everyone has access to all features of a channel. You can allow or deny the permissions everyone has on this particular channel by clicking the check boxes.

Note: Channel permissions will override server permissions.

The green check mark indicates that the selected role has this permission enabled. In the image below I am allowing everyone to create Instant Invite links for the channel 'General' to share with others.

In this image I am denying everyone the permission to create Instant Invite links for the 'top-secret' channel.

You can add roles or specific people whom you want to manage channel permissions for by clicking the '+'.

Once you have added a Role or member you can begin assigning channel permissions to this group or person.

Category Permissions

There are now two default states for a channel; synced and not-synced. A synced channel will have permissions that completely match that of the category.

Category permissions can be changed by right clicking the category and clicking 'edit category'.

Click on the 'Permissions' tab to alter permissions and add roles

Disabling `Read Text Channels & See Voice Channels` will make the channels invisible to members that don't have access, rather than just showing them locked!

Note: If you change the permissions on a category, all channels that are synced will automatically update.

If you do not sync permissions when moving a channel between categories, or if you change an individual permission on the channel level, it will then show that the channel is not synced with the category.

This means the channel currently does not share the same permissions as the category and will not automatically update when you make changes to the categories permissions.

Want that channel to get back in line with the category? Just head to the channel permissions menu and click the 'Sync Now' button as pictured above and it will match the channels permissions to the category once again!

Important Note: Synced and not-synced channels can coexist within a category. Changing a category’s permissions will change all synced channel’s permissions, but not the permissions of any not-synced channel!

One final note on category permissions - if you don't want to utilize them at all, you can leave all channels within the category as 'non synced' and manage them individually. Permissions can also be managed on a per-channel basis.